paulcats02

thanks for the reply the activated raw barley looks interesting, too. makes me think though, how many pounds of brown rice or barley could one buy at these prices and isn't that more simpler? but i have to say, like you, I do feel strongly about supporting specifically vegan products, companies and causes. David Wolfe among others such as our forum founder Robert Cheeke, Brendan Brazier (and even ourselves on a smaller but no less significant level) are helping cultivate awareness of health of the individual, the human race, and all living things including the planet. and the effect of that, is the sum of the variables.

a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine IMd me a link to Chris Jordan's art; pretty amazing and startling! thanks for the link of him speaking, i enjoyed that; the only thing missing for me was a sense of humor* unless it was a deeply buried tragic ironic sacrcasm that i didn't get? *personally i try to bring my sense of humor with me at all times otherwise i get in trouble. your question "People must change, but how?" is like a Zen koan, a question that may take a lifetime to ask, let alone answer. my answer at this moment in time-space: people do change whether they want to or not, it's the "how" of it that is constantly shifting. sometimes change is what we want, other times not, perhaps there are also times when its beyond words, thoughts or feelings. working thru the how is something that makes life the trip...

wow this does look good, it did appear a little costly at first glance but based on the amount of servings per container it's actually not that unreasonable at all (1 serving is about the same cost as a block of tofu or a can of beans). i'm always trying to get the rock bottom lowest price available though so i'd have to bite the bullet on this one or wait for a sale or a deal to come along... but then again if i just read what i said in the first paragraph it looks like it'd be well spent. maybe i'll get the sample...

actually the yamaimo i refer to is like a crisp apple; it has a higher water content than your typical potato but when you grate it up and mix it, it becomes a sticky gelatinous mush.

I couldn't have said it any better myself. I agree 100%!!!!!! But if one was trying to get bigger than they needn't worry about their caloric input; it's just those (us?) who are trying to approach single digit bodyfat who may have the challenge of caloric reduction thru diet and exercise. Yet fellow posters here such as Lean and Green and I'm Your Man seem to be intaking huge volumes of food/drink at times, losing pounds and dropping BF% in the process. I mean maybe it's just a perception that one needs a certain amount of protein or training per day/week/etc.? My challenge has always been when losing weight, it being primarily fat not muscle and conversely when gaining weight not gaining fat but merely putting on muscle...

I don't remember having raw potato ! where? when? during my liquid fast? maybe in a veggie cream with avocado, it should be good. Those kinds of potatoes seems interesting, I'm gonna try one of these days. Bananas, potatoes and avocados are really polyvalent foods that can be used in so many ways and taste great when mixed with so many different foods. Actually you didn't have it... I am mistaken it was "raw potage: avocado, celery, tomato, carrot, beet" that I misread as raw potato! But, yeah, by all means, do check out the Yamaimo aka Japanese mountain potato...

those drinks, as does all the feast, do look lucious, delicious and nutritious! man i don't remember where in brooklyn your at Lean and Green, but i'd buy rounds of drinks anytime

I'm Your Man, i see you ate raw potato, what type was that? i've heard mixed reviews on eating raw spuds from one extreme saying it's therapeutic to the other saying it's bad for you. did you ever try yamaimo, it's a japanese mountain potato eaten raw (sliced up with soy sauce or grated into a paste). it has a sticky film like okra or natto, too, if you like that (which I personally do...).

that's a whole lotta food you ate, I'm Your Man... and a whole lotta loss! it's interesting because its a lot of volume but calorie reduced. similiarly Lean and Green has been eating literally a ton of food on his 46 day Juice Feast (including plenty of avocado, and other "fatty" foods like durian and coconut) and he's been losing crazy weight (mostly body fat), too. i guess i always figured that your output in the calories in vs calories out was your BMR coupled with your physical activities; i just never factored in time in the bathroom well spent (eliminating). so the more raw foods and cleansing foods you eat is not only high volume but the high water and high fiber components will actually clean and clear you out more bringing your "output" higher and your weight lower?

if you want to get the nitty gritty of it, before reducing or removing avocados from your diet, i'd try logging the exact foods, quantities, and calories, as well as your physical activities on a daily basis. next, figure out your BMR and see how those #'s match up. try slightly lowering your caloric input or bumping up your activity, weigh in weekly or daily under the same circumstances preferrably with a scale that measures some kind of BF and see what happens. yes, avocados are calorically dense but my guess is that, numbers-wise, you may be coming in a little high overall. i know some people say that fat is the worse thing to eat compared to proteins or carbs because they don't have to be converted into fat (since they already are) while others say healthy fats burn fat... you can find point, counterpoint and in between... who's right? who's wrong? i don't know, but i really believe, from personal experience and through research, that 9 times out of 10 calories in vs calories out is the main formula; whether your eating healthy organic raw or cooked vegan junk food, it's a numbers game. show me someone who inputs more calories than they output that loses weight; i don't believe that's scientifically possible. yes, lifting weight builds muscle which burns calories even when not working out and helps preserves lean muscle mass, and yes cardio burns calories during and after (especially interval training) and helps tone us up but if you eat more than you burn then dollars to donuts you're gaining weight (and if you want to bulk up that's a good thing but if you want to cut that's not good). now if you were working out hardcore and burning 1000's of calories then it's different... you can eat the whole house and then some and still come up short... but for civilians, we must be consistent, persistent and patient... calorically dense foods must be eaten with care in contrast to high water-content & high fiber foods (ie buckets of celery, cabbage, kale, melons, berries... heck most fruits and veggies) which can be eaten generously because they are higher volume and lower calories (check out volumetrics). end of my line: i say avocado is no foe, it's a friend all the way; the foe is the sum total of what we're eating with our foerks (and other utensils and hands)!

i've heard good things about turmeric, and about spicy foods in general as anti-inflammatories and painkillers. supposedly curry powder is good to use but even better may be turmeric powder in and on everything and anything (because the amount of turmeric may be low in the curry compared to straight up turmeric). ginger, i've also heard good things about. my guess about the gas is that in addition to being an anti-inflammatory and to quell naseau among other things ginger helps digestion... so maybe when you are digesting, you're burping, stepping on ducks (not literally but in the way of tooting from the bottom end), etc? it's funny that you mention the placebo effect because i have been experimenting with both turmeric and ginger as well as systemic and digestive enzymes among other supps like glucosamine cmo and msm, for pain management (arthrirtis in both hips, pulled muscles) and sometimes i wonder does it work or is it in my mind...

personally, i live vegan primarily for ethical reasons... so as long as the above mentioned questionable ingredients are vegan, they are aok in my book. by the same token i'd never force 'em down anybody elses throat. my feelings, which may or may not be shared here and that is perfectly fine either way, is that the small amounts of artificial (and or natural) sweeteners, colors, flavors, etc are a small price to pay to stay on the vegan life. ditto for pesticides, if i could i'd eat only organic i would... but i'm quite sure that eating a mix of organic and conventional produce is still less toxic than eating junk food. and so if i get a miniscule amount of pesticides hopefully they are getting cancelled out by my healthier lifestyle choices. anyway, for vegans, it remains a challenge to get high protein eating only unprocessed foods since nuts & seeds have a high calorie count, beans & legumes are also pretty high in carbs (fiber) in comparison to protein content, and fruits & veggies that all have protein in them in some amount will need to be eaten in huge volumes... so that's why i am using the processed foodstuffs (protein powders currently i have the gemma, the wheat protein, the buckwheat protein, the nitrofusion, etc and meat analogs such as wheat gluten, riblets, tofu, tempeh...). to each their own...

great durian video, i could almost taste it! question: after you vitamix it up do you drink it within a set time frame or do you refreeze it... or is the refreezing what you posted about earlier ie when you are not juice feasting you defrost them whole, then slice, scoop, wrap, and refreeze? i'll tell you, in my experience people who have never had durian, if they don't smell it 'til after they taste it they fall in love with it; but if you smell it first then you may be turned off by it and shy away from tasting it; me, i love it... smell and taste... it's like an out of this world custard, so good. anway, lean and green, thanks again for all the effort, energy and the sharing of your journey! if you ever need help carrying durian (or eating durian) or whatever it may be... i am in NYC, too (i work midtown and downtown and live out in Long island City).

first of all i apologize for the 9 month delay second, to answer your question, i baked them at 350 degrees for about a half hour then if they are cooked through take 'em out otherwise i'll put 'em back for another 20-30min. this will be dependent on how thick the patty is. oh, also i usually either spray the pan with spray oil or lightly grease it w earth balance

fallen horse you're right it is a bit sweet i may try mixing it 50/50 with the gemma, too. veggie princess if ya do get it just make sure not to make the "pudding"... unless you want to chew it like gum

hey welcome aboard! where in japan are you? my wife is from fukuoka (southern japan, kyushu island), we take the kids there every year or 2. from personal experience, it's muzkashi (difficult) to eat vegan in japan unless you prepare your own food or eat simply. almost everything has daishi (fish flavored soy sauce), bonito (fish flakes), or something animal-based (like butter, milk, pork or beef extract). plus unless you can read japanese (i can't) ou may have to do your shopping at import places aside from your produce purchases. are you looking to avoid the meat analogs and powders for a specific reason, because they are processed? as above posts imply, you will be fine if you eat a varied diet because everything has some protein in it. for example, broccoli, a giant plate of it: 125calories, 15g protein 10g fiber, 5g sugar. beans and nuts are a little more calorically dense but still have a good amount of protein; a handful (about 2doz) almonds are 6-7g protein but probably twice that in fat (although it's the good fat) around 200cal; a serving of lentils could be 10-20g protein and probably the same amount of fiber. you may do well frequenting indian restaurants there, the ones i went to were very vegan friendly, also the buffet style (viking) restaurants are good because you can load up on heaping plates and plates of veggies and fruit and beans, too. i'd also consider eating soy products that are fermented and cultured (that would be natto, miso, soy sauce, tempeh, etc.) since they are generally regarded better to eat than the non-fermented and cultured ones (because they supposedly stop the effect of phytic acid and increase the availability of isoflavones). cheers!

The other day a friend and me were looking at the bodybuilding.com site for veg proteins and he said wheat protein isolate when i thought he meant to say whey protein isolate. but no it was in fact wheat protein isolate. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/un/isolate.html so i ordered up a jug of it Vanilla Creme flavor and... it was good. although at first something funny happened when i made the pudding a la Veg Princess style. it turned into like a ball of chewing gum meets mozzarella dough. and i tried to eat it but no matter how much i chewed it it just wouldn't break down. so i mixed it with a frozen banana and water and vitamixed it into a smoothie (it then did break down). i mean i know of and eat the wheat meat aka seitan aka wheat gluten but prior to this i never heard of wheat protein in a powder; price wise it's decent and spec-wise it's nutrionally sound, too. of course if one was gluten intolerant, this would not be good for them.

I love that yeast, too, and that is a good question on whether it is vegan or not. i guess it depends on who you ask and how vegan is defined. Yeast, along with spirulina, algae and mushrooms, could be considered grey areas. I used to think that there were only plant, animal and mineral kingdoms but I guess Modern Biology has furthered the divisions to now include Monera aka Prokaryotae (bacteria, blue-green algae), Protoctista (red algae, slime mold), and Fungi among the living... the question is what and who art the living? Personally I do eat everything except animals, animal ingredients and animal products; for example I don't eat honey or bee pollen because they come from a bee which many people ask why? it's just an insect...yeah but it's still an animal...but yes I do eat probiotics (good bacteria), the above mentioned yeast, algae, fungi... i just don't eat any being with a face or anything that came from some being with a face. I'm sure there are people out there who define their veganism differently; as a matter of fact a friend of mine knows a vegan who only eats vegetables and fruits that have been picked or that have dropped off a tree/plant. Hey, free will. I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do. It's said we're all crazy so to master ones own insanity may be the key?

great blog! amazing transformation you are on and your travels along the way. thanks for sharing. it's very inspiring. it's often said that the most important muscle is the mind (i don't remember who said that... but I just read or heard it again; maybe rickson gracies character, in "the incredible hulk" opening scene where he's training edward norton to control his anger) and what you're doing is a potent example of mind power; in the sense that you can do anything when you put your mind to it. the cool thing about vbf is that it's a place where the different are similar. and even the differences between the different are respected. personally, i've experienced all kind of reactions and comments to my everyday diet and cleanses and fasts at the workplace and at home, too, but ultimately you gotta be with you so the rest gets left behind... and it seems like that is working out for you. regarding the tanita scale and bodyfat, i have one too and i don't know which you have but it's as you say the accuracy is not like a hydrostatic weighing but it's good to track it anyway. the one i have is an older version and it only has the sensors that sends a electrical current up thru the bottom of your feet to your lower body and then down? i believe there is a newer model that also has handles that sends the current thru your arms and to your upper body then down, too, so that factors in with the feet onbe and is more true. i think there's even a more detailed scale that will show your water weight and lean muscle mass as well? i believe the main variables of the weigh in are if you've eaten or drank, if you've eliminated, and if you exercised prior to weigh in. so, for me, to get the best #s i weigh in pre feed after bathroom post workout and of course in my birthday suit. btw i'm here in NYC (actually Long Island City to be exact), i'm curious where do you get all your produce? and are those actually frozen whole durians that i saw in your pictures? is that what you meant by you thaw them then cut em up and divide and refreeze them? anyway, lean and green, keep it coming i count myself among the many here who are routing you on!

5lb jug arrived and i beta-tasted it; it's pretty good! i just had the basic "pudding" (1 scoop powder with about 1/4-1/3cup water) and i liked it, the flavor was not overbearing and since it's vanilla i'm going to experiment with adding other flavors into the mix.

that is an interesting approach to not use added sugar and staying away from high glycemic fruits; i used to to do the former but have drifted away from it a bit. in any event, i just may try the 2 week experiment, and see what happens. now regarding fatty and salty foods, how would one smash those cravings? maybe only eating naturally occurring fats and salts (ie nuts, seaweed) as opposed to eating foods with added fat and salt? although that'd be hard for me in that i just love slathering earth balance, soy garden, better than sour cream, and nayonaise all over just about anything but i do believe the first 2 are naturally occurring. Monavie looks pretty cool, i went to the one link and watched The Story of MonaVie and i'm going to check out your other links, too.

Princess, what are your programs and what is monavie? i personally shy away from fruit juice myself; it's just too sweet for me and the sugar, although natural, gets me a bit too amped up. i usually use whole fruit alone or with other fruits, in smoothies & shakes, and sometimes with other foods (ie frozen bananas w almond butter). the exception to the rule being lemonade that i make with water, lemon juice, and stevia. and how bout dried fruits, do you use them? this is another food i try to use in small doses, judiciously, due also to the high sugar and caloric content; i do enjoy it, though (mango, dates, raisins, goji berries, plums... mm it's like nature's candy ). on a side note, I've read and been re-reading about the correlation between sugar and certain mental disorders & physical ailments, very interesting and thought provoking stuff (and there's lots from Sugar Blues to Sugar Busters to Sugar Addicts). I'll tell ya, admittedly, i have a sweet tooth... and then some! my question is: is it even possible to eat a sugar free diet? because doesn't all food with the exception of water, protein isolates or pure fat (ie oil) have some sugar in it? back to the protein powders, ever since i read your post on pudding that has been my main way of eating them. for the most part, i just use about 1/3-1/4 cup of water per scoop of powder (sometimes i'll mix in something like goji berries, almonds, carob, or bittersweet chocolate chips). so i am looking forward to the nitrofusion with an open mind and more so an open gullet!

5lb jug of Vanilla is on route to me house, as we speak! You know if it is neutral or plain tasting that's fine with me because then it can be seasoned and flavored in an infinite amount of ways. I actually prefer that as I don't necessarily like being locked in to 1 flavor. I's like the Naturade Soy-free Vege Protein booster, I'm not sure what the weird taste is from (Shittake Mushroom?) but it can be masked or covered up or at the least cancelled out. I will definitely give this NitroVision a fair shake (pun intended), more likely it'll be proof in the pudding? I agree with you Princess, in that it's great that this company is working really hard to get quality Vegan ingredients in this and other supplements they're formulating" and I, too, will "support his product in anyway I can just for that fact alone". Hey the Kemistry Buckwheat protein powder rocks, the mint chocolate chip Pea Protein is awesome, so i'm sure the NitroVision will work, too! You haven't steered me wrong yet...

funny enough i actually met a really cool guy today at the vegetarian dim sum house here in nyc (he was wearing a rosstraining.com shirt so i knew he was into the good stuff) and he turned me on to this product. he said that bodybuilding.com was running a "buy 1 get 1 free" deal for the 2lb jugs (for $29.99). i checked it out and that is true. i also saw there was an excellent deal for the 5lb jug ($39.99)... so i broke down and bought it. they have several flavors (which all look tasty!) but i opted for vanilla figuring that'd be the most neutral so i can further flavor it down the line. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ans/nitrofusion.htm i figured, why not? personally, i try to use as much non-soy protein powder as possible because i feel that i already eat enough soy, as it is, with tofu, natto, edamame, tempeh, along with all the wonderful soy products ranging from soy chicken legs, soy nuggets, soy ice cream, soy cheese, soy mayonaise, soy butter, soynut butter, soy crisps, soy yogurt, soy burgers, soy dogs, soy ground meat to soy ribs (not that i don't like soy but i just feel a need to get variety plus i don't wanna wake up one day stuck in a pod, cultured in a cake, or as fu in someones toe ). i love vega protein, kemistry's buckwheat protein, naturade soyfree ( although it has a different taste that takes a 'lil getting use to), hemp and brown rice protein, too; i've yet to try gemma but have heard good things about it and look forward to trying it, and am especially excited to try this stuff... it does seem that non-soy protein powders tend to be a bit more expensive but perhaps that's because they aren't produced in as large quantities? anyway, i just did a search on this forum for nitrofusion and found this post, cool beans! and yes, veg princess, there is fructose in it which i generally shy away from (i try to minimize added sweeteners when possible using stevia as the exception) but it appears to be a moderate amount (9g in a serving that has 25g protein); for example, i just love CLIF Builder's bars... but they have 20g of sugar a bar along with the 20 g of protein. Jonathan, that's awesome that you are making this product. If you read this perhaps, for future reference, you could make an unsweetened and/or and unflavored one? good luck with the company i will post on how it tastes and how i use it; hope to receive it in a few days...

actually fox on demand has the clip on their site just go to http://www.fox.com/Hellskitchen/ then click on "Videos"; that should open up a new window and launch a video player the clip is from Season 4 Ep 407 - "chef prepares dishes with fake meat but no one has the palatte to notice" i'm not sure if this was Chef Ramsay's intention or not, but this clip in a way gives "fake meats" a thumbs up, imo... and like the above posts allude to, it's all about perception hey any network that broadcasts the simpsons can't be that bad...